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HOME	FEBRUARY 5th, 2005

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A number of Grenadian lawyers are fearful that if controversial Jamaican lawyer, Hugh Wildman is appointed as the island's next Attorney-General, he could help to stall or frustrate the $500, 000 U.S briefcase inquiry involving alleged wrongdoing by Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell.

A lawyer made this comment to GRENADA TODAY, hours after a group of senior barristers met with Governor-General Sir Daniel Williams on Tuesday to discuss the Wildman issue. The meeting took place against the backdrop of a decision by members of the Grenada Bar Association (GBA) to boycott sittings of all courts on the island if the Mitchell-led New National Party (NNP) government goes ahead with the appointment of Wildman to the top judiciary post.

The lawyers are adamant that Wildman could use the Office of Attorney-General to frustrate the Commission of Inquiry into allegations that Prime Minister Mitchell received half-a-million dollars in a briefcase from German fraudster Eric Resteiner in exchange for a diplomatic posting.

Barbadian jurist, Dr. Richard Cheltenham was appointed by the Governor-General as the sole Commissioner to investigate the allegation against the Grenadian leader. The inquiry should have started sittings in October but was prevented from doing so due to the passage of Hurricane Ivan over Grenada on September 7 when most buildings were devastated. The inquiry is due to resume in the first half of this year.

According to the lawyer the public should understand that their protest action is not against Wildman as an individual but was aimed at protecting the legal institutions of the country.

He recalled that a few years ago the U.S Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) had written a letter to the Grenadian authorities complaining of being frustrated by Wildman in his capacity as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) as they tried to come into the island to investigate the First International Bank of Grenada (FIBG).

The bank eventually collapsed in the biggest offshore banking scandal in history, with depositors mainly from the United States and Canada, losing millions of dollars of their life-savings.

FIBG's founder, Van Brink slipped out of Grenada before the collapse and was eventually caught in Uganda and brought back to the U.S to face several fraud charges. Speculation is rife that First Bank had bankrolled Mitchell's NNP when the party won all fifteen seats in general elections held on the island in 1999.

According to the lawyer, there is deep suspicion in legal quarters that the Mitchell government is moving to have Wildman replace the incumbent, Raymond Anthony as part of a plan to deal with the briefcase inquiry.

He said that Anthony was apparently moving "too quickly" in terms of making the necessary arrangements for the commission to visit the United States to meet with Resteiner and his former chief of Security, Timothy Bass who are key players in the inquiry. Bass is known to have sworn to an affidavit in the U.S alleging that on instructions from Resteiner he had video-taped the alleged half-a-million dollar briefcase transaction with Prime Minister Mitchell in Switzerland in June 2000.

Prime Minister Mitchell has publicly admitted receiving "approximately $15, 000.00 U.S" from Resteiner to cover expenses of an overseas trip but not $500, 000 U.S in a briefcase. The lawyer also recalled statements made recently by Wildman in which he challenged Bass' affidavit and indicated that there was nothing for the local police to investigate in the briefcase matter involving the Grenadian leader.

"Despite what Wildman has said, today there is indeed an investigation ongoing", the lawyer quipped. During the one hour and 45 minutes meeting with Sir Daniel, the senior lawyers reiterated the position of the bar that if Wildman was appointed as the Attorney-General then that should be rescinded and that if he was being considered for the post then the Mitchell government should not proceed with it.

According to the lawyer, the protest action will continue until the Wildman matter is totally cleared up. The lawyers also presented the island's Head of State with a dossier of court documents involving the controversial Wildman.

One includes a reprimand of Wildman by the Law Lords of the British Privy Council in the multi-million dollar judgements against the State in the Dipcon matter. The Privy Council accused the State of "playing fast ad loose" with the court and its procedures" by trying to frustrate DIPCON from having its day in court.

The lawyer said that Sir Daniel gave the five-member delegation that visited his office the assurances that he would raise their concerns with the "relevant authorities responsible for handling the matter. The Governor-General also advised the lawyers to discuss the issue with the Minister of Legal Affairs, Elvin Nimrod who is currently out of the country on a government assignment in Jamaica.

The lawyers meeting with Sir Daniel were Lloyd Noel, Reynold Benjamin, Anslem Clouden, as well as bar president, Ruggles Ferguson and Lisa Taylor. The controversial Wildman first attracted national attention when he had a battle in court with the late Kenrick Radix who won a case against him in the high court.

After the judge ruled in favour of the defendant, there was a scene in the open court in which Wildman with fingers out-stretched was seen raising his hand and gesticulating toward Radix's head. Wildman was heard to say that if it was in Jamaica, it would have been "pow, pow" for you.